Recent comments

  • Layton caves on corporate tax cuts   2 years 12 weeks ago
    ROTFLMAO
    I can imagine the puzzled looks. You slay me, Barnes!
  • Layton caves on corporate tax cuts   2 years 12 weeks ago
    FYI: IMHO LOL

     Yes, IMHO means 'in my humble opinion', though where humility comes into the posts of myself and the rest of us, goodness only knows. Don't feel embarassed about your acronymic aptitude, Kyra: I used to think 'lol' meant 'lots of love'. That led to more than a few puzzling exchanges, let me assure you.

  • Layton caves on corporate tax cuts   2 years 12 weeks ago
    From the editor: ANOTHER ONE!!!

    Another thing on which we agree, Rose ... attack ads are both vile and un-Canadian.

    I laughed out loud when I read the "impressive swagger" bit. It made him the PM we all loved to hate. What fun!

    He was sooooo arrogant and, while that drove me nuts sometimes, I loved how genuine it seemed to make him. Some people hide behind arrogance, but I never got the impression that he did ...he just really BELIEVED he was smarter than the rest of us, and so used it to forward his true perceptions (whether or not they were "true" for the rest of us remains a matter of debate).

    Imagine, flipping the bird at a bunch of Westerners as you pull out of the station.

    He may have lacked wisdom and polish, at times ...but he rarely wanted for sheer bravado and guts.

    BTW - what does "imho" stand for? In my humble opinion, perhaps? (I'm still such a techno-dork ...learning as I go. Be impressed I knew what BTW means).

    Regards,

    Kyra Hoggan

    Editor

  • Premier Christy Clark….Now, will the media please do their job?   2 years 12 weeks ago
    Missed the part
    Missed the part about the black helicopters. - r
  • Layton caves on corporate tax cuts   2 years 12 weeks ago
    Always be true
    Always be true to yourself. Never mind ideals and all that mumbo jumbo. If you're honest with yourself, you'll figure out who is best for the country at any given point in time. - r
  • Layton caves on corporate tax cuts   2 years 12 weeks ago
    Big sigh!
    Trudeau certainly was a paradox. But, by all accounts, a great mind and thought delivered with impressive swagger. And may all parties swirl in hell for their use of attack ads. Very un-canadian, imho. - r
  • Layton caves on corporate tax cuts   2 years 12 weeks ago
    From the editor: It had to happen sooner or later

    Finally, Rose and I have stumbled upon something about which we agree.

    Layton will never be PM. I'm sorry, but there it is. He simply isn't credible on an international stage.

    Harper, like it or not (and I don't) is the most polished, media-savvy leader we've seen in a very long time. He practices an American-style approach to politics that's more Hollywood than Ottawa, and it's working for him. I don't think any other party has fielded a candidate that has a chance of beating him.

    I may never be allowed back into Alberta for saying this, but I miss Trudeau.

    Regards,

    Kyra Hoggan

    Editor

     

  • Layton caves on corporate tax cuts   2 years 12 weeks ago
    Aargh

     What's the alternative? Be pragmatic, betray your ideals and end up with Iggy??? Anyway, I doubt that if Layton did get in, he'd be much more than an Iggy with a 'stache (the 'stache is how you can tell a socialist from a capitalist nowadays, I think).

  • Layton caves on corporate tax cuts   2 years 12 weeks ago
    Layton won't ever be PM
    Socialist idealogues waste their vote at each general election. But, by all means, vote your ideology and get Harper instead. - r
  • Meeting meatheads in the Koots' cootie-infested online dating world   2 years 12 weeks ago
    Casabonita, that was the best
    Casabonita, that was the best cat video ever! "Corporate cuddling?" What a great term! This brought a huge smile and lots of laughs into my otherwise boring Friday night - thank you! That guy does need a woman who can cook though; you cannot survive on a diet of PB&J.
  • LETTER: Current SD20 report not viable   2 years 12 weeks ago
    NOL
    I was hoping I wouldn’t have to write another letter on Rossland’s Neighbourhood of Learning. I am really tired of the whole matter. However, some clarifications must be brought to bear to this continuing saga. The maximum functional capacity of MacLean Elementary school in Rossland is 314 students. At present, the capacity utilization at this school is at 61%. That means that 39% or 123 seats are empty. Figures are from SD 20’s Functional Capacity Comparisons, May 2010. Rossland Secondary School’s maximum functional capacity is 525 students. The enrolment is at 341 (including 69 Grades 6 & 7) or 65%. There are 184 empty seats. Even down the road to 2015/2016, MacLean is projected to be 235 students and 70 empty seats. The projected enrolment for Grades 6 & 7s is 74 students. Even if you had to add a portable at MacLean’s, it’s not the end of the earth. Just about every other school in the district has a portable. I also take issue with NoL’s statement that the majority of the capital budget has been devoted to Trail schools. Robson School is a new school that was built at the same time as the new Trail Middle School. Robson is still open serving elementary kids from as far as Deer Park. Twin Rivers Elementary is a new school (about 13 years old). Both Glenmerry and Kinnaird schools have had upgrades as has RSS, particularly after a fire, a whole new gym/auditorium facility was rebuilt. MacLeans was rebuilt in 1981 while Fruitvale Elementary was built in 1948 and has had a few renovations to it, as has Stanley Humphries High School in Castlegar. Getting rid of MacLean and upgrading it for rent by various non profit societies or very small scale businesses would likely become a tax liability to Rossland taxpayers. Do they want this? Huge renovation costs to RSS to accommodate an elementary school contingent would require Ministry approval. Will it approve such expenditure when fast growing cities like Surrey can’t get a new school to accommodate the large enrolment growth? One middle school in Surrey has 19 portables. It’s the same NoL story, delay, deter, defeat the school board and hope for government largesse.
  • Meeting meatheads in the Koots' cootie-infested online dating world   2 years 12 weeks ago
    The odds are good but the goods are odd?
    Ahh, the old conundrum! The mountain town full of men, but like the old Alaskan saying, you may not be getting the pick of the litter! There's also the perma man boy - forever wearing a toque, even in the heat of summer, seasonally employed, on the EI ski team, and will eat peanut if it means a new toy! Based on your wants, this may be your perfect man - creative, funny, critical thinking, loves cats, but he lives in Kansas: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHXBL6bzAR4
  • Meeting meatheads in the Koots' cootie-infested online dating world   2 years 12 weeks ago
    And I would totally be OK
    And I would totally be OK with that!
  • Meeting meatheads in the Koots' cootie-infested online dating world   2 years 12 weeks ago
    Okay, glad we cleared that

    Okay, glad we cleared that up!

    It's obvious to me that any man in this area who is of such a high caliber will necessarily be a Telegraph reader. After all, male Telegraphophiles are invariably chaps who combine brains and brawn with an environmental sensitivity that's gentle but never less than rugged. Prince Charming is out there, Allyson, but there's a chance he may charge into town on a quad, albeit with a camo laptop strapped to the handlebars...one whose home page is a Lone Sheep publication.

  • Meeting meatheads in the Koots' cootie-infested online dating world   2 years 12 weeks ago
    I am not judging hunters - I
    I am not judging hunters - I know a lot of hunters and gun-toters myself (my dad being one of them) and they are not at all bad people. I would date a hunter for sure - as long as he wasn't a trophy hunter. What I was trying to say is that in general, the Great White Hunter/4x4/quad-loving/gun-toting/"camo-draped" type is not typically my type. I'm looking for more of a hiking pal, one who enjoys going to the lake for some camping, who loves to take pictures of nature, who is conservation-minded, who loves to read and discuss what he reads, someone slightly more along the poet-y, deep thinking, more artsy-fartsy lines... While I'm at it, allow me to go on: - loves cooking, and appreciates good food & decent dining - someone who thinks outside the box with social issues, politics, etc. - someone interested in culture, history, travel - an animal lover - and MUST love cats! - someone who has learned from his past and has accepted responsibility for that past rather than blaming an ex in a bitter way - someone who can tolerate European symphonic and Gothic metal! That's a start! Oh, and also one more very important thing: critical thinking skills are a MUST!
  • Meeting meatheads in the Koots' cootie-infested online dating world   2 years 12 weeks ago
    Okay, now I've got to step in

    Okay, now I've got to step in and speak my mind on the other side of the equation! 'Camo types' are people too and, believe it or not, can be said to love the outdoors. Certainly they spend a lot more time there than many in our town who profess such allegiances, myself included.

    Some of the most environmentally-aware and sensitive people I know are outdoorsmen. My stance is that only strict vegans have the moral right to go around knocking hunters! Better a clean-killed deer than factory farmed chicken any day of the week. Is that environmentalism in action? I think it is.--Ed.

  • Meeting meatheads in the Koots' cootie-infested online dating world   2 years 12 weeks ago
    OMG, Snapshot, I had the same
    OMG, Snapshot, I had the same thing! I put in there that I love hiking, camping, the outdoors, and dear God, if I didn't get all the Great White Hunter/4x4/quad-loving/gun-toting/"camo-draped" (love that!) types, too! It was really odd how some things I put up there were interpreted!
  • Meeting meatheads in the Koots' cootie-infested online dating world   2 years 12 weeks ago
    I KNOWWWWWWWW
    Allyson, I am with you, my sister. I, too, am on this free dating website and had to edit my profile as well. My claim that I loved the outdoors was mistaken as "I love outdoorsmen" and all sorts of camo-draped (also mostly illiterates) gun-toters started sending me photos of them next to dead things. I was forced to include a line differentiating between loving the outdoors for its beauty, silence and perfection, not tearing through it in a monster truck and hucking Budweiser cans out the window into it. The good guys are out there, though - I'm just waiting for them to get divorced!! :>
  • 2011 budget to be presented to public this Tuesday   2 years 13 weeks ago
    From the editor: I respectfully disagree

    It seems sad, to me, that you have so little faith in local residents and media alike.

    I really don't believe that, were there anything especially contentious or worthy of debate present in the budget, council could've cozened us all into silence and apathy.

    I think at least one Castlegar resident, or media member, would've sussed that deception out.

    Perhaps that's naive of me ... but I DID read the budget, and while there is a line item or two I would not personally choose to include, I found nothing worthy of editorial or debate.

    Does that mean I've been "discouraged" from participating? Perhaps I flatter myself, but I don't think I'm so easily manipulated.

    (Although on the charge of boring me with a budget, I find this council, along with every other level of government in my more-than-a-decade of journalistic pursuit, guilty as charged).

    I believe in democracy, and I think most Castlegar residents do, too. I therefore conclude, from the lack of attendance, not that everyone here is too blind, stupid or bored to exercise their democratic rights. I instead infer that they largely trust their elected representatives to do the job for which they were elected.

    This is, for me, reminiscent of the "bread and circuses" debate. I was troubled, not by your assumption that council was buying the Castlegar public with free movies in the park - but rather, by your assumption that the rest of us would so willingly, even eagerly, line up to be bought.

    I don't think you stop to ask yourself whether your contempt for council spills over and reflects an equally vigorous contempt for the people, and the media, of Castlegar. If you think we're so easily bought, bored, and dissauded from participation - what does that say about how you perceive us?

    I think that's the question you need to ask yourself.

    Regards,

    Kyra Hoggan

    Editor

  • 2011 budget to be presented to public this Tuesday   2 years 13 weeks ago
    Thank you for your comments and opinions ...
    Dear Anonymous 'Watcher' --- Once again, City Council, --- having discouraged the Population from participating, and having bored the People to exhaustion ... failing to sollicit the Public's interest in the single most important Policy Document of the current year (The Budget), --- now claims the 'Victory' (an attendance of 5 ??? --- am I correct that that figure is DOWN from 20 last year? ) --- of near unanimous support. This is NOT --- what Democracy looks like. Time to prepare Municipal Campaigns for the Fall. Sincerely, Raymond Koehler 4363 Broadwater Road, Castlegar, BC V1N 4VV7 Voice Mail: 250.304.2157 Email: raymond(at)raymondkoehler.ca
  • Will you be participating in the city's budget process in the coming weeks?   2 years 13 weeks ago
    City budget
    Unfortunately most Castlegar citizens have come to the conclusion that it really doesn't matter if they attend the "public input" meetings. The arrogance shown by the city counsellors when talking about the budget to the media only confirms that their conclusions are true.
  • Do you think young offenders should be named in the press when convicted of violent crime?   2 years 13 weeks ago
    I think they should be named
    I think they should be named when charged or convicted of any crime.
  • Meeting meatheads in the Koots' cootie-infested online dating world   2 years 13 weeks ago
    Not sure where to start...
    OK....wow. @ Jumpdates: One negative experience doesn't make me an negative person overall. You don't know me personally, so it's not a good assumption to make from reading this column that I am automatically a negative person in need of perking up because I've had a negative experience on that site. People who do know me personally know that I am not negative, not in need of perking up, and they all know I have crawled across broken glass to get where I am now mentally, emotionally, and physically. You don't know my history - you know nothing other than what I've written here - and that is that this hasn't been a good experience that hasn't shed a positive light on the local online dating scene. On a general note to all readers & commenters, please read very carefully what I wrote here. I was very specific with how I worded things. This was a critique of the on line dating scene. It is not meant to paint Kootenay men in general in a bad light - just the "meatheads" I've "met" on line who use virtual cat calls and text speak in order to solicit hook ups. It's not appropriate in real life, it's not appropriate to me on line either. I'm sure there have to be some great Kootenay men out there; I just don't think I'm going to find one on that particular site. The experiences related here are the ones that are appropriate for the readership; like I said, I had creepy and downright disgusting messages from other guys that are not family friendly or G-rated and that the publishers of this paper could not publish had I included them in the column. The whole Prince Charming thing was totally meant to be tongue in cheek. If you can't figure that out, that says more about you than it does me. @ Kyra: you're right, this was meant to be lighthearted; obviously I have either failed in my attempt at being lighthearted, or this is just too touchy a subject for some guys to handle and that's why there's this kind of reaction to it. @ Franck: thank you!
  • 2011 budget to be presented to public this Tuesday   2 years 13 weeks ago
    usual ranting response is why your rein was so short
    And I guess your usual ranting response is why your rein was so short. Maybe we are living in a different community, unlike you I see a community that embraces local culture, is truly concerned with the environment and is proud to live here. Maybe you have Castlegar confused with Tunisia, Egypt or Libya but I don't think anyone that is part of this community does. With respect to your comments about running for Council were you not the only candidate that was financially supported by Special Interest Groups and spent a substantially higher amount in advertising. Your like the old time cigarette ads if you throw enough money into it people will believe in anything.
  • 2011 budget to be presented to public this Tuesday   2 years 13 weeks ago
    Reality Check
    Dear 'watcher with an opinion': Thank you for your question and observations. I chooose to disagree. I attended more Council Meetings between 2004 and 2008 than any other Resident of Castlegar -- including all of the sitting Members of City Council. I also attended with questions or made submissions to every Public Budget Meeting, or as they came to be known 'consultations' during the same period. I have frequently laid out alternative strategies in the Press and on the Internet, which I believe were more in keeping with the development of a Sustainable Community. I ran for City Council 3 times once in 2005 and twice in 2008. Each time I ran I received an increase in the number of votes that I received. For those who are unclear on the residency requirements to run for City Council, my understanding is one needs to be a Canadian Citizen and a Resident OF BRITISH COLUMBIA to qualify. (Please correct me if I am wrong.) Last time I checked, we still assume that Canadians have the access to the Rights of Freedom of Speech and Freedom of the Press. I do believe that given the municipal track record, we should be a little concerned about our Region's tentancy to elect folks, for what ap;ears to some, to be "Councillors for Life". (16 + years) --- especaially those who rarely endorse Public Positions on anything. While we seems to have a propensity to 'keep our heads down' in the Kootenays --- I do believe we should be keeping an eye on the world-wide trend to expand on the idea of participatory democracy. The evolution of things seems to be toward the end of the "the Divine Right of Kings / Queens / Dictators / Mayors / Councillors --- in favour of a climate of consultation, dialogue and democratic decision making. In conclusion, Dear 'Watcher', I gently encourage you and All Others, who feel that you have the time, money, and inclination to help guide our Community through the next three years, to step out from the shadows of anonymity & 'shyness' , and begin your campaigns for City Council NOW! THAT is WHAT --- Democracy Looks Like! Let's not wait until U-tube Videos from Castlegar resemble those from Tunisia, Egypt or Libya. Best regards, Raymond Koehler 4363 Broadwater Road, Castlegar, BC V1N 4V7 Voice Mail: 250.304.2157 Email: raymond(at) raymondkoehler.ca